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MSc. (Actuarial Science)

Masters in Actuarial Science has been a very interesting topic for actuarial aspirants.

It is a multidisciplinary program where the course structure varies across universities. In this course, students are well-prepared with the fundamentals of actuarial science: mathematics, statistics, economics and finance.

Students holding B.Sc./ B.Com graduation degree with 50% aggregate marks and mathematics/ statistics as the main subjects are eligible for the course.

Universities may require the students to clear some actuarial papers to be eligible for the course.

For example, Bayes Business School requires the student to clear at least 4 Core Principle papers from IFoA including CM1.

In abroad, on an average the course duration is 1-2 years, depending on the University.

Students usually have the query, about whether to clear more papers or pursue MSc in Actuarial Science, the blog may clear the queries.

Students performing well and obtaining a good aggregate marking get exemptions in some of the actuarial papers. Actuarial bodies outlay the list of universities from where the students can obtain exemptions and the papers in which they can get the exemption.

IFoA paper exemptions through Route A outlines universities which have an agreement with IFoA :

Asia Pacific University (Malaysia) Bayes Business School
Beijing Technology and Business University  Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), China City University London
Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, China Dublin City University
Fudan University  Heriot-Watt University
London School of Economics (LSE) Mahidol University
Nanyang Technological University National University of Ireland, Galway
Queen Mary, University of London Queen’s University Belfast
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE), China
Sunway University, Malaysia Swansea University
Taylor’s University, Malaysia  UCSI University, Malaysia
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
University of Bristol University College Cork
University College Dublin University of East Anglia
University of Essex University of Haifa
University of Hong Kong University of Kent
University of Leeds University of Leicester
University of Lisbon University of Liverpool
University of Malaya University of Manchester
University of Mauritius University of Mumbai, Patkar Varde College 
University of Strathclyde University of Southampton
University of Warwick University of Waterloo
University of York Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University
Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

The university name and the IFoA website link regarding the papers exempted have been attached.

Further details regarding fee structure, eligibility criteria and admissions will be available on the university’s website.

However, the papers specified are maximum no. of papers which can be exempted, it is not necessary that a student who has completed the programme in these universities will get exemption from all the papers mentioned.

Similarly, IAI also has mutual agreements with universities and grants exemptions for papers mentioned in the agreement.

While pursuing MSc. in Actuarial Science the universities may offer scholarship opportunities to the outperformers. Again, this is subjective varying across universities.

In most of the universities, the Student has to take an entrance test, based on the concepts of mathematics, statistics, economics and finance.

MSc. Actuarial Science Abroad may be an expensive option, but it is a very good way to get exemption in papers within a short period of time.